Syria, Threats, Collusions and Tweets that Aged Horrifyingly Well

Palestinians are seemingly isolated as Israel has threatened Arabs and as the US has threatened Russia; or is it worse?... Apparent retribution against insurance CEO long time coming....

From beautiful Syria

News release I just put out via accuracy.org “Syria's Future: Democracy or Subservience to U.S., Turkey and Israel?” is below.

Obviously, Syria ruled by Assad was oppressive, but unlike other oppressive states, it didn’t completely capitulate to the US and Israel.

Trusting that HTS will do the right thing is rather like thinking Trump will do the right thing.

Indeed, at times it seems the Turkish et al axis and Iranian et al axis are like the Republican and Democratic party, both playing insidious games. Erdogan talks tough on Israel and then goes after Syria. Iranophiles likewise tell us a massive Iranian strike against Israel is coming then Iran seems to fold.

I thank my stars I never aligned with any camp.

Given Iran’s weak response to Israel and effectively standing aside as its ostensible allies Syria and Hezbollah are attacked, I’ve wondered if things like Iran-Contra and October Surprise were ever really over. Both involved double dealing starting with the incoming Reagan administration and the Iranian government. The parallels between Reagan 1980 and Trump 2024 seem to be piling up.

I see peace groups praising the Syrian army for not fighting. This seems deluded to me. They didn’t fight it appears because they were ordered not to. Deals were cut. Assad will live a life of luxury in Russia.

As the tweets below show, I’ve long suspected double dealings not just between the US and Israel (duh), but between Syria, Russia and Iran. Or at best that the US would leverage threats to “core interests” of Russia, Iran, and sure, China, to ensure that the US/Israel/NATO settler colonial establishment gets what wants. The core thing that it wants is the continuation of the settler colonial project. Right now, that is Israel.

I worry a great deal for Syria, I’ve only visited it as an adult once, in 2005. But I’ve thought of that visit a million times. Damascus was a clear center of civilization, unlike, say, Amman. But unlike a great center like Cairo, it was human in scale. It reminded me of what I think 1950s Americana was. Or the best of Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall. So serene and simple.

It profoundly influenced my art. Seeing mom and pop textile stores. Craftsmen making backgammon boards. My dad and I stayed in a monastery and I’d walk the city for hours and hours into the night.

I remember arguing about Syria with my dad, me shouting “Assad should go!” before 2011 and him asking what comes then? He was most wary of what happens to a Syria totally under the thumb of the US establishment and what that means to the Palestinians and what that means to Christian and other minorities in Syria.

I want a strong and independent Syria. Just as I want a strong and independent Iraq.

Some say Syria will become like Libya. But I see the Empire doling out a special kind of torture for each country.

Some people talk about Syria being free now, but as became clear to me after the invasion of Iraq, there are different kinds of freedom.

There’s the freedom to say the government stinks.

But there’s the national freedom to set an independent path. Syria seems set on losing a great deal of the second. And I suspect that now, many Syrians can’t see it. Just as many Iraqis and Libyans couldn’t see it in 2003 and 2011.

The new “leadership” of Syria, as always, should be challenged. It’s possible that the US and other outside forces will decapitate Syria. And it’s possible that they will keep it technically whole but subservient. Or it’s possible that genuine freedom and dignity will assert themselves there and a new Syria will be a meaningful force for good. It’s the job of people of good will to be as relentless as possible in analysis and action. That was the subject of my most recent piece about the need for mass protests in NYC at the UN.

I have had cause to go through some old tweets. One that relates to what seems to be a case of an individual in NYC very much taking matters into their own hands and shooting an insurance CEO:

I'm shocked there aren't more shootings at health insurance company officies. Sort of a John Q. Public type thing: http://imdb.com/title/tt0251160

From 2018:

(I sense the US gov et al are leaning on Russia and Iran so that Iran backs off Syria, Hezbollah and Palestinians at least some and Russia backs off Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Palestinians at least some.)

Bolton obviously trying to make deal w Putin so either Israel demolished Palestinians and or Hezbollah — or possibly Iran. Will use Russian vulnerabilities like Ukrainian for pressure. Husseini’s first law: The Powers Collude and the People Get Screwed.

Syria's Future: Democracy or Subservience to U.S., Turkey and Israel?

Patrick Cockburn writes that the fall of Assad means "success for the U.S., Israel and Turkey. ... [A] victory for the Sunni Arab majority over the Muslim and non-Muslim minorities. ... Bad news for the Kurds" given Turkey's role in backing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other al Qaeda offshoots.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said: "The target is Damascus. ... I would say we hope for this advance to continue without any issues."

Vijay Prashad writes in "10 points on the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria": "The Syrian state had been devastated by the war which began 2011, and then by the sanctions placed on the country by the United States and its allies. The Syrian Arab Army (the official state army) had never fully recovered in the aftermath of the major fighting and was incapable of taking back the main cities of Hama, Homs, and Aleppo.

"The Israeli bombardment of Syrian military facilities had weakened the Syrian armed forces’ logistical and ordinance capabilities. These attacks had been sustained and painful for the Syrian armed forces.... The nearly three years of conflict in Ukraine had certainly denied Syria the ability to call upon further Russian assistance for the protection of Damascus or for the Russian naval base in Latakia." Prashad also warned: "Syria will face a Libyan future," referring to the horrible aftermath of the U.S. regime change operation in that Arab country.

The Times of Israel reports: "Netanyahu claims credit for starting ‘historic’ process that led to fall of Assad regime." Israel is bombing and moving into Syria. In October, Middle East Monitor reported on statements by the Israeli finance minister: "Smotrich: Israel’s future is ‘to expand to Damascus.’"

Jeremy Scahill reports on a statement from Hamas congratulating "the brotherly Syrian people on their success in achieving their aspirations for freedom and justice."

See accuracy.org news release from February: "Why Does the U.S. Have Troops in Syria and Iraq?" See from 2017: "How the U.S. Armed al Qaeda in Syria."

The following are available for a limited number of interviews:

MOHAMAD BAZZI, mohamad.bazzi@nyu.edu, @BazziNYU

Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University. He highlights a thread by Syrian American scholar Bassam Haddad which voices concerns about a post-Assad Syria while not erasing the agency of Syrians. He notes: "Israel is invading Syria, beyond parts of the Golan Heights that Israel has illegally occupied (since 1967) under international law."

KEVORK ALMASSIAN, kevork.almassian87@gmail.com, @KevorkAlmassian
Almassian is host of Syriana Analysis and was one of the earliest analysts reporting on the advance of HTS. He was just interviewed by Rachel Blevins: "‘The Axis of Resistance is Over’ Syria in a New Reality After Assad Overthrow." He has especially highlighted the role of Erdogan.

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN, sarinj111@gmail.com

Loewenstein is former associate director of Middle Eastern Studies and senior lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has lived in and reported extensively on the Mideast.